Bruni Fyodor Antonovich
(1799-1875)

FA Bruni - the son of a Swiss Italian, "Master paintings and sculptural works," which in 1807 moved with his family in Russia. In 1809, Fyodor Bruni was admitted to an educational school at the St. Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts, then studied in the class of historical painting in A. Yegorov and V. K. Shebuev ; graduated Academy of Arts in 1818

In the spring of 1820 at the invitation of Princess 3. Volkonskaya went to Italy, and there is a lot of serious work and soon became famous. Major success earned him the painting "Death of Camilla, Sister of Horace" (1824). In this exemplary austerity classical style work revealed some of the traits of the artist with the art of Romanticism. Romanticism features stood out in other works Bruni - in "Portrait 3. Volkonskaya dressed Tancred" (1820), and especially in the painting "Bacchante, poyaschaya Cupid" (1828), distinguished joyful sensuality. The artist was able to move further along this path, enriching the new things brought romanticism, but Bruni remained in positions of academic art.

 Professional achievements of the young artist was appreciated, and he received an important order for up to two AH paintings of Raphael in the Vatican. Believing in yourself, Bruni himself set out to create a great work by electing him to the plot of the episode of the Old Testament - the story of the brazen serpent, delivered by Moses.

 However, in 1836 he had to interrupt the work started and return to St. Petersburg, where he and K. Briullov were appointed professors of the 2nd degree in the Arts. For teaching, he took enthusiastically, and the students paid him loyalty.

 In early 1837, he performed "Portrait of Alexander Pushkin on his deathbed," propagated by lithography and has received wide recognition. Yet the need to continue the work started forced him in 1838 to travel to Italy and spend another two and a half years.
 Finished "Brazen Serpent" in 1841, was brought to St. Petersburg, where he had a rapid success, comparable only with the triumph of "The Last Day of Pompeii "KP Briullov. Skill of the painter, who managed to build an expressive multi-figure composition on a huge (565h852 cm) canvas dramatic scene to subdue the light and color, it was undeniably a raid some exaltation acted on the imagination of the audience. However, the picture belongs to yesterday - decrepit and degenerate academicism, and it is a fatal inevitability determined the further extinction of a major talent of the artist.

 However, the way of life Bruni went as smoothly as the beginning. "Brazen Serpent" was purchased for 70,000 rubles for the Hermitage (now in the Museum), and the author received an honorary order of painting was reconstructed in St. Isaac's Cathedral. He, with his integrity came to the point, twice in Rome, gaining experience in monumental art. By 1845, the artist has made all 25 of cardboard paintings and some of them carried himself, and personally supervised the execution of the rest.

 Bruni gradually attained a high position: since 1855, he became rector of the Academy of Arts. He constantly met in a variety of honorary commissions. But the painting was engaged in weight is less and less, and in the last decade of his life almost never picked up a brush.
 artist ever more distant from people, even from their own pupils, sometimes a teacher who had not seen for weeks. Besides his position zealous guardian of the foundations of academic bred dislike of the youth. In 1871, as a result of intrigues, he was forced to resign as rector and retains only the leadership of the mosaic workshop, organized by himself. Bruni spent the last years in solitude arrogant person is buried for a long time the best that he was in the shower.